Ed Harcourt — Atlantic City
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Well, they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night
Now they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they're getting ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do
Now there's trouble busing in from out of state
And the D.A. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gambling commission's hanging on by the skin of its teeth
And everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got into debts that I could not pay
So I drew what I had from the Central Trust
And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus
And everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever I'll stay
And we're going out where the sand's turning to gold
So put on your stockings, 'cause the night's getting cold
Maybe everything dies, baby, that's a fact
Maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Now I've been looking for a job but it's hard to find
Down here, it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well, I'm tired of coming out on the losing end
So, honey, last night I met this guy, I'm gonna do a little favor for him
Well, I guess everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Now they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they're getting ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do
Now there's trouble busing in from out of state
And the D.A. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gambling commission's hanging on by the skin of its teeth
And everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got into debts that I could not pay
So I drew what I had from the Central Trust
And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus
And everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever I'll stay
And we're going out where the sand's turning to gold
So put on your stockings, 'cause the night's getting cold
Maybe everything dies, baby, that's a fact
Maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Now I've been looking for a job but it's hard to find
Down here, it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well, I'm tired of coming out on the losing end
So, honey, last night I met this guy, I'm gonna do a little favor for him
Well, I guess everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Comments (12)add comment
joek wrote:
Has anyone ever heard The Reivers do this song? It was on a Rhino tribute compliation called "Cover Me"...excellent version and the rest of it is pretty good too. Well worth seeking out...
Yup. Killer. Especially the drumming.
Has anyone ever heard The Reivers do this song? It was on a Rhino tribute compliation called "Cover Me"...excellent version and the rest of it is pretty good too. Well worth seeking out...
rah wrote:
i'm going to add my voice to the commentors below who enjoyed this fresh take on an old fave.
I agree...! Great cover...!!
i'm going to add my voice to the commentors below who enjoyed this fresh take on an old fave.
Schmackdown wrote:
I would personally categorize this as Not Very Good. A little too disjointed and jarring for my taste. And something about it reminds me of that Oberst asshat.
The "Streets of Philadelphia" single includes a very good live version of this song.
I'm going to take off the gloves and categorize it as Astonishingly Awful
I would personally categorize this as Not Very Good. A little too disjointed and jarring for my taste. And something about it reminds me of that Oberst asshat.
The "Streets of Philadelphia" single includes a very good live version of this song.
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rcurrier wrote:
Just what a cover should be: a different take on a song that makes you stop and listen to again.
I've heard Bruce's version so many times, it's just wallpaper now. This one made me stop.
My first introduction to this song was a version by The Band, recorded for their 1993 comeback record Jericho.
You might want to hunt it down.. I thought it was good.
Fantastic cover. Segued in usual RP style (obscure song by artist followed by cover of well known song by artist covered by obscure band...) :-)
Great though and, as you say, I'll be getting the Springsteen albums out again. I'd love to hear the Badly Drawn Boy one too one day
Malc wrote:
These 2 CDs got me back into listening to Springsteen after I had overdosed on him in the past and was listening to other things. The covers reminded of how good the songs were and I endevoured to complete my collection. Not possible if you count bootlegs.
The same thing happened to me when Uncut put out the two cds of Clash covers for their Joe Strummer tribute issue. I had pretty much overdosed on The Clash but those cds got me to get the originals out again.
Uncut does a great job either getting artists in to record covers or finding rare and obscure recordings.
Just what a cover should be: a different take on a song that makes you stop and listen to again.
I've heard Bruce's version so many times, it's just wallpaper now. This one made me stop.
A shame I missed the Badly Drawn Boy cover.
This version of "Atlantic City" by Ed Harcourt is a specially recorded track made for Uncut magazine Springsteen special edition in the UK. It came out in 2003.
This is therefore RARE. (It may have been compiled somewhere else since - or maybe not. Enjoy it while you can).
There are 8 exclusive recordings in all on the 2 cds by other artists as well as other rare and hard to find cover versions of Springsteen songs.
My other favourite was a version of "Thunder Road" by Badly Drawn Boy. It did quite a few rounds on the LRC for a while, but was not accepted in the end despite good scores.
These 2 CDs got me back into listening to Springsteen after I had overdosed on him in the past and was listening to other things. The covers reminded of how good the songs were and I endevoured to complete my collection. Not possible if you count bootlegs.
Thanks Bill and Rebecca for puting this one on the regular station. And for RP. Oh yes.